


Swingsets and Broken Promises

by WonderstruckMermaid



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, Past Abuse, Past Friendship, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-02-23 09:08:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2542073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderstruckMermaid/pseuds/WonderstruckMermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Best friends forever, that is what people always say, but when does it ever mean anything? Luke and Gracelynn, two very naive children, thought they would be always be friends forever. Then they were separated by a terrible situation. Luke promised, to always protect her, but he never came through. And now, Grace doesn't believe in forever. She lost hope when she lost Luke. Not to mention her life has been nothing but a nightmare since she and Luke were separated. So what happens when Grace spots that blonde-haired blue-eyed boy on the computer screen, living his dreams, just like they always talked about? They are about to find out...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is just the prologue, so I can kinda introduce my story, and I'm gonna go ahead and post the first full chapter today. But I would love to know what you guys think of it! I'm gonna try to post a chapter every week (Or every two weeks depending on how hectic school gets) but yeah! I hope you guys enjoy!

_“Push me higher, Luke!”_

A child is only promised their innocence for so long…

_“Why even bother begging for her? You are just a waste of time.”_

And once that innocence is gone, snatched away from them by the truth…

_“I’ll always protect you! Okay, Grace?”_

                There is only the real world…

_“Mommy, please don’t let daddy take me. I love you and I wanna live with you…”_

                A world they must face, filled with harsh realities…

_“I have to go live with my daddy now. Promise you won’t forget me, okay?”_

And dreams that seem to always crumble away into nothing…

_“You are nothing but a mess up, just like your mother. Get out of my face.”_

A world holding nothing but negativity, and only relying on love…

_“You don’t remember me, do you? I knew you would break your promise…”_

But before that child ever finds love, before they ever truly grow up…

_“You never loved me! Is that why you tried so hard to make my life hell?!”_

All they have are Swing Sets…

_“Maybe we should say goodbye… This time… Forever…”_

And Broken Promises…


	2. Where It All Began

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first chapter to, what I hope, will be a long-ish story. I'm so excited for this and I hope you guys enjoy it!

       “Luke! Push me higher!” The air filled with the joyous laughter of a small child as she soared through the sky, flying with the birds, flying higher than any of her fears. Those fears couldn’t catch her in the few seconds she was amongst the clouds. As long as her friend Luke kept pushing her, nothing could hurt her. He would always keep her safe.

       “Okay, Grace, but if I push you any higher, I might lose you in the clouds!” As the swing began to gravitate back towards the ground, the young, blonde boy pushed her with all his strength, sending her back towards the sky, where she wished to be.

       “That’s okay! You can just come up and get me.” They were friends, best friends actually, they had been for quite some time. Luke, only a year older than the little girl known as Gracelynn, but she rather hated that name and wanted to be called Grace, moved down the road from her 3 years ago, when he was only 5. His mother met her mother, and they arranged a play date. The two children met, and they immediately became friends. And they had this routine, every Saturday afternoon, Luke would go over to the October’s house, and push Grace on the swing until he couldn’t feel his arms. They had been doing this since Grace’s 5thbirthday, because that was all she asked for from him.

         “I’m not gonna come up there and get you! I don’t like heights!” Her giggles could be heard a mile away as he continued to push her back up every time she came falling back down to the earth.  Unfortunately, this was the day the giggles stopped… And Grace was forced to come back down to Earth for good…

        “Grace! Come inside right now!” She looked towards the back door, confused as to why her father sounded so angry, why he was yelling. It wasn’t normal. Luke stepped to the side, and quickly grabbed the chain to stop the swing for Grace, and he gave her a look of worry.

         “Come over later and tell me what happens, okay?” The young girl nodded, watching Luke run next door to his house, then she quickly rushed inside, unprepared for what was really waiting behind those glass sliding doors.

 

* * *

 

         “Please! Alex you can’t do this! You can’t take her away from me!” Even with the pillow over her head, and hiding under the bed, she could still hear her parents arguing. She had never heard them scream at each other like this before, so it was only natural she ran to her room and started crying. When her father called her in, he told her to go upstairs and start packing her stuff, saying all this weird stuff about how they were moving to London, and she needed to go pack her stuff right now. Her mother, on the other hand, was screaming and telling her not to, saying stuff like ‘You won’t take her away from me she is mine!’ Being only 7, she couldn’t understand what was going on, and she didn’t understand the severity of the situation.

         “Get your hands off of me!” There was a loud crash from downstairs, and Grace only cried harder. She was scared, confused, and the only person she wanted in that moment was Luke, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

         “Alex, she is my baby girl! You can’t take her from me! You don’t love her as much as I do! Please! I’ll do anything, just please don’t take her away!” There was another loud crash, followed by a bit of silence, and Grace silently hoped to herself it was over, but it was far from it.

         “Why even bother begging for her? You are just a waste of time.”

         “I’m her mother! She  _needs_ me.” She sounded desperate… Desperate, and hurt, and afraid. She was begging, begging her husband not take her daughter.

          Alex and Alisyn had been having marital problems for a few years now, and they tried to hide them for Grace’s sake, but Alex had finally had it. He told Alisyn he was packing his shit up, and he was going to leave her, and he had intentions on taking Grace with him.

         “What she needs is a stable parent! And there seems to be only one person in this room not making a scene by crying and begging on the floor! Is that what you want for your daughter? A woman as low as you!”

          “I’m only begging because I love her, and I know what’s best for her! Do you even  _know_  how far London is from Australia? I’ll never get to see her!” There was another moment of silence, then footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, but to Grace, they sounded like booming stomps. Grace crawled even farther under her bed, and tried to stop her tears so she could stay as quiet as possible.

          “Gracelynn? Honey? Come out right now. We don’t have time for this. You need to start packing.” He searched the room for his daughter, then finally spotted the little feet poking out from under the bed. He pulled her by her ankles gently, just like he used to when they would play hide-and-seek and she would hide under the bed, but this wasn’t like old times. She wanted to hide and never be found…

          Her father picked her up gently, then sat her on the bed, wiping away the trail of tears that had traveled down her face. He hated seeing his daughter like this, knowing that he had upset her so badly, but he was doing this for the both of them, not just for himself.

          “Gracelyn… You know how much you like the clouds, and how you have always wanted to see what they looked like on the inside?” She nodded in a pitiful manner, and used her little hands to wipe at her eyes. “Well, you are gonna get to see that tomorrow morning at about 10, but only if you are a good girl, and start packing up your clothes and toys tonight.” She wanted to be happy, she really did. She was finally gonna see the clouds, but she could still feel the lingering sorrow in the air.

          “Is mommy going with us?” All her father could do was let out a sigh of distress, and run his fingers through his hair.

          "No darling… Actually, when we leave tomorrow morning… You won’t be seeing mommy again. Now listen to me dar-“Before he could even get his last words out, Grace had already darted from the bed, past him, and down the stairs to her mother’s crying form on the floor. She wrapped her little arms around the shaking body and ran her fingers through her hair, just as her mother always did whenever she had a bad dream.

          “It’s okay, Mommy… I’ll be right here. I’m not leaving you…” All her mother could do was look into her daughter’s red, puffy eyes, similar to hers, and try her hardest to stay strong.

          “Oh baby, I wish that was true, but daddy is taking you away… You have to leave me…” The words just weren’t processing for little Grace, and she just couldn’t grasp the idea of having to leave her mother. “But it’s okay, mommy will come visit you all the time, don’t you worry.” Grace could only think of one thing to ensure that this would happen. She extended her small pinky towards her mother.

          “Pinky promise?” Alisyn couldn’t help but smile as she wrapped her pinky around her daughter’s.

          “Pinky promise.” She straightened herself up a little, and wiped her face from any stray tears. “Now, you have one more thing you need to do before you leave tomorrow. Do you know what that is?” A look of confusion crossed her face, and she tapped her chin in a thinking manner. She still wanted to cry, but her mother’s pinky promise put her in a better mood.

          “No, what do I need to do? All Daddy told me to do was pack my clothes and toys.” Alisyn could already feel her daughter’s heartbreak before it even happened, before she had to say the thing she dreaded most.

          “Well, you need to go next door, and tell Luke goodbye.” Grace’s face drained of color, and the tears began to spill over again.

          “Goodbye? But… But won’t I see him again?” All Alisyn could do was rub her daughters arm in a consoling manner and sigh.

          “Well, honey, I may be able to come visit you, but there is no guarantee that Luke will get to come visit you too… I know it is hard baby, but maybe one day you two will see each other again… It wouldn’t be right of you to leave and not tell Luke… He would be just as hurt as you are right now.” Grace gave a short nod, then headed straight for the door. “Be back before it gets too dark, okay?” She nodded once more, then walked next door to do, what she considered, the most heartbreaking thing in the world: Say goodbye to her best friend.

 

* * *

 

           Luke had been listening to some music when he heard the familiar ping of pebbles hitting his window. He knew it was her, he had been waiting for almost an hour. When she went inside, all he could do was worry, and he needed to know why her dad was upset. Was it something he had done?

           Quickly, Luke darted over to the window, looked out and smiled when he spotted her standing in her usual spot. In a timely manner, he threw the rope ladder (really only for emergencies, but he considered sneaking Grace into his room was an emergency enough) down to her, then flopped on his bed and waited for her to climb up. Just as she reached the top, he was going to make a comment about her taking forever, but he stopped when he saw how puffy and red her eyes were. He jumped back off his bed, walked over and crouched down so she could get on his back, then carried her over to his bed. Once they were both sat down, he wiped a few of her tears away.

           “Gracie? What happened? Are you in trouble?” He was the only one who had ever called her Gracie, because he knew how much it comforted her, and comfort was the one thing Grace needed right now. She shook her head, then took a deep breath. She never realized how hard it would be to say goodbye to someone, especially not her best friend. It felt like she was about to lose a part of her. She decided to start off with a positive approach, and see if maybe that would make it a little easier…

           “My daddy is taking me to London tomorrow morning… And I get to finally see what the inside of the clouds looks like…” Of course, it didn’t make it an easier. In fact, it was much harder. How was she supposed to tell him? She just couldn’t.

           "That’s great! You have always wanted to see the clouds! Gosh, you had me thinking something awful had happened!” He threw a pillow at her laughed softly. So naïve. Little did he know, something awful did happen, but Grace just couldn’t bring herself to say it. “So, why are you crying?” She quickly wiped her eyes and tried to think of an excuse.

           “Well, I’m a little nervous about flying. I have never been on a plane before…” Luke chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a reassuring manner.

           “Wow, the fearless Gracelynn October is afraid to get on a plane! What has the world come too?” She hit his arm playfully and tried to calm her breathing.

           “I’m just afraid because... Because I won’t have you there to protect me!” He grinned, then hugged her closer, doing his best to calm her.

            “Oh gosh! I’ll always protect you, okay, Grace? Even if you are in the clouds, a thousand miles above me! Nothing could keep me from being your knight in shining armor!” This comment made the both of them blush, Grace especially. Knights in shining armor were usually only reserved for princesses, so did that mean Luke thought of her as a princess.

            “Luke, don’t be so cheesy!” Then Luke looked down at her with a cheeky grin and laughed.

            “Grace you are so cute with that blush I could just kiss you!” He leaned forward making obscene kissing noises, and Grace started to squeal and try to crawl away.

            “Ew! Luke! Kissing is so icky! Go away!” She slipped out of his grasp and started running around his room, along with him chasing her with puckered up lips.

            “Come on, Gracelynn! Just one kiss!” As Grace kept running around, she tripped over one of his sports balls and fell on her back. Luke quickly took advantage of this and sat on top of her, leaning down and giving her a sloppy kiss on the lips. When he stood up, he pointed and laughed at Grace.

            “Your face is so red!” He hugged his stomach as he rolled on the floor laughing, and all Grace could do was pout.

            “That was my first kiss, you… You buttface!” She threw one of the toy racecars at him then crossed her arms in triumph when it hit him in the face

            “Ow! Grace you are so mean to me. I was just trying to be a knight, and make you a princess. Duh.” He laughed more then stood, holding his hand out to her to help her up. She looked up at him, and couldn’t help but blush even more. Luke was definitely a dorky 8 year old, but he was still cute to Grace. He still had cooties though, so it was unacceptable to think he was cute.

           “So, when does your plane leave tomorrow? My parents and I will come and say bye! And when will you be back?” That was the question she was dreading the most. She just couldn’t tell him that she  _wasn’t_ coming back, so she lied, again.

           “Umm, daddy said we will be on the plane at 10. So you should come earlier, okay? And we shouldn’t be gone too long.” Luke nodded happily, and just stood and smiled at her.

           “Well, I guess you should start getting home. It is starting to get dark outside. But I will see you tomorrow. Okay?” Grace nodded then started heading towards the window, climbing down the ladder. “Bye Grace!”

           “Goodbye Luke!” It hurt her to say that, because that wasn’t the goodbye she was supposed to say, but that was the only goodbye she could muster. It was only going to worse tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

           The next morning came too quickly, and all Grace could do was cry on and off as her father started carrying down all her suitcases filled with her stuff. Once they all reached the bottom of the stairs, Grace heard what she was dreading the most.

           “Gracelynn! It’s time to go, honey!” Grace looked around her room one last time, the walls empty of all her old boy band posters, and picture frames. All the dolls she had in the corner had been packed up, along with all the clothes in her closet. Her dad wouldn’t let her take her furniture, saying he would buy her new furniture when they got to London. Her room just looked like one of those model ones for an open house. It didn’t make it any better that her bed was perfectly made.

            Slowly, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. It was like she knew she would never walk into this bedroom again, so she wanted to take in as much as possible.

            As she reached the bottom stair, her father had everything loaded into the car, and her mother was standing by the door, her face drenched with tears. She wasn’t going to the airport with them, she just couldn’t. It would hurt her too much. So she chose to say her goodbyes at home. Grace ran over and hugged her mom as tightly as she could, taking in every detail possible. Her scent, the way it felt to hug her, the way it felt to be hugged by her. She took note of everything. They both cried, unable to hold back the sadness they felt. It was hard to be separated from your mother at only 7, and Grace wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

           “Mommy, please don’t let daddy take me. I love you and I wanna live with you…” Alisyn only cried more, and took a deep breath. Then, she stood up straight, unhooking her necklace from around her neck, then crouched back down, and clasped it around Grace’s. Grace had always loved this necklace. It was simple, just a regular silver chain with a star charm on it, but that was what interested Grace the most. The simplicity of it always caught her attention.

           “Honey, I tried so hard to keep your daddy from taking you, I really did.” Being at eye level with her mother made it easier to see the heartbreak in her eyes. “My mother gave me this necklace when I was sixteen, and I was hoping I would be able to give it to you at the same age… but that won’t be the case. I want you to hold onto this necklace, and always remember that you are my star. Wherever you are, I will always be able to look up and know, we are still under the same sky, the same set of stars. Nothing will change that… Okay?” Grace nodded, and grasped the little charm in her hand, then hugged her mother one last time, just as her father came in. He waited by the door patiently, not planning on ruining the moment, but he did cough a little to signal that it was time to go.

           “Come on Grace. We need to get to the airport.” Grace looked up at her mother one more time, and her mother placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Then, Grace walked out toward the car. It was a rainy Sunday, and she knew that was a sign that it wasn’t going to get better. She climbed into the backseat of the car, just as her father climbed into the driver’s seat, and she looked out the window, waving one last time to her mother as they pulled off, heading towards the airport.

 

* * *

 

 

           When they got to her gate, Luke and his parents were already there, waiting on them. Liz already knew what was going on (Alisyn had called her the night before when Grace was talking to Luke), but just like Grace, she just couldn’t tell Luke what was really going on. Luke was holding a small pink gift bag, along with a card, and he had the biggest grin on his face.

           “Grace! I have a present for you! My mom and I picked it out last night.” He ran over to her and handed her the bag and card, and brushed his hair back, blushing a little. Liz was smiling in the background, because she knew that her son had a little crush on Grace, and in all honesty, Grace was the only girl she could see being with Luke later in life, any other girl she just wouldn’t trust. Now that they were being separated, she would only worry. “I’m not sure why I had to get you a present for your trip. You won’t be gone forever!” Grace gave Luke a sad look, and she pulled him over to seat, so that they could both sit down. She had 45 minutes until her plane took off, so now was the only time she could explain.

           “Luke, I have to tell you something I should have told you last night… I’m not coming back from London.” The color drained from Luke’s face, and he couldn’t understand what she meant.

           “You aren’t coming back? What do you mean?” As Liz was watching from a distance, she could tell the Gracelynn had given him the news. All Liz could do was turn and give Alex a nasty look. How dare he rip this child from the only life she had ever known and move her to London.

           “Luke, I’m leaving Australia… To go to London. I have to go live with my daddy now. Promise you won’t forget me, okay?” Luke gripped her hand tightly, trying to keep from crying in front of her, but he couldn’t keep the tears from spilling over. This didn’t help little Grace, and she started to cry as well.

           “Gracie, you can’t leave me. You are my best friend. What am I supposed to do without you?” He hugged her tightly, crying on her shoulder.

           “It’s okay Luke. We will always be best friends, no matter how far apart we are. Just please don’t forget me, please.”

           “I could never ever forget you Gracie. Like I said, you are my best friend. And like I said last night, I will always protect you, okay?” She nodded ad wiped away a few of her tears.

           “Yeah, you are my knight in shining armor, so I know you will always protect me, silly.” They both let out a pitiful laugh, then just sat and stared at each other. Luke was going to say something, but a women’s voice came booming over the airport intercom

            “Now boarding for flight 284 from Australia to London. Flight will be leaving in 30 minutes.” The two looked at each other, prepared to cry again, then Luke immediately thought of his gift. He handed it to her and tried to form a smile.

            “Open it now, okay? I think you will like it.” She nodded, wiping away the tears that had started to form, then pulled the sparkly, pink tissue paper out gently. “The girly wrapping wasn’t me… It was my mom.” Luke blushed a little, and it made Grace laugh.

           “No, I bet it was you who picked it out!”

           “Was not!” He huffed and turned away, but quickly turned back so he could watch her open the present. She pulled out a square, velvet box, and gasped softly when she opened it. It was a small charm bracelet, with only one charm on it: Half of a silver guitar pick that said one word “Best”. Grace was little confused, and as she was about to ask Luke where the other half was, he pulled a small silver chain out from under his shirt, to reveal the other half, which held the word “friends”. He had the cheesiest grin on his face as he showed it to her. “This way, we will be friends forever. See, they even have magnets to connect them!” He pulled the bracelet up to his necklace, and the two of them smiled as the two charms connected to form the full guitar pick. Then, he pulled them apart, and gently slid the bracelet onto her wrist.

            “I picked a guitar pick, because we both really love music… And we both always talked about getting famous one day for our music… So yeah. When we are both famous, the charms will make sense!”

            “I love it Luke. Thank you so much.” She leaned forward and hugged him tightly one more time. He hugged back with just as much force, never wanting to let her go, but he knew he had to. When the two separated, Grace looked over to her dad, who was signaling that it was time to go.

            “Make sure you read the card on the plane, okay? It is kinda sappy, so don’t laugh. My mom just told me to write down all my feelings.” She nodded, then the two of them stood up, so she could walk over and say goodbye to Luke’s parents. When she hugged Liz, she let out a deep sigh. Liz gently grabbed her shoulders and gave her a sad smile

            “This isn’t the last time you two will see each other… I promise. And I made sure to put our home phone number in the card, so you can call Luke. It may not be often, because long distance calls cost a pretty cent, but I will make sure you two get to talk at least once a month. Make sure you call us though when you all get settled in.” Grace nodded, and hugged Liz one more time, then went over to hug his dad. The hug was just as sentimental, and all he could do was mutter a soft “Stay safe, Grace.”

            Once she finished hugging the two, she stepped in front of Luke one more time. The two hugged each other as tightly as possible, and Grace did the bravest thing any seven year old could do: She kissed Luke on the lips. It was short, little kid kiss, a peck on the lips, but it was a kiss none the less. Liz couldn’t help but glow with a smile, and all Luke could do was blush. All Grace could think of doing next was telling him the words she normally only told her mother or father. Her mom always told her the words were so important, and always talked about how she married her best friend, so maybe that was the case for her and Luke. She felt like it was the right time to say it.

             “I love you Luke Hemmings, and I hope we see each other again soon.” Luke kept blushing, and nodded his little head as fast as he could.

             “I love you too, Gracelynn October. Now go get on your plane before I reconsider, or get cooties.” The two shared one last laugh together, then detached themselves from the hug. Grace headed over towards her father, and the two headed towards the gate. Just as they were about to board, Grace raised her little arm and waved at all of the Hemmings, and they all waved back. Then she entered the gate.

 

* * *

 

            “The plane will now be departing, please keep your seatbelts on while the seatbelt light is flashing. Once the plane has completed lift off, you are free to move around the cabin. Have a wonderful flight.” Grace sat by the window, and looked towards the giant window where her gate was. She could see Luke watching for the plane took off, and when he spotted Grace in her seat, he waved excitedly. She waved back of course, then the two took it upon themselves to start making silly faces at each other. Once the plane started to move though, Luke immediately stopped, and started to wave goodbye. He was joined by his parents, and all three of them all waved one final time. She waved back, until she could no longer see them. Then, she pulled out the small card, smiling as she saw the familiar, sloppy handwriting. She smiled even more when read what was in it…

            The plane had finally reached its highest altitude, and Grace stared in amazement at all the clouds surrounding, practically engulfing the plane. This moment was something she had only ever dreamed of.

            “Aren’t the clouds beautiful, Gracelynn?” Her father was trying to mend the already broken bond between them by using small talk, but Grace didn’t care. She didn’t even want to talk to her father. She wasn’t old enough to truly understand why her father made her leave, but she was old enough to understand the feelings she had for him, and they weren’t good ones.

            She continued to look at all the clouds, smiling as they passed by the plane. This was it, she finally got to do what she dreamed of: Getting lost in the clouds. She never imagined getting this close on the old swingset in her backyard.

If only she knew the life that was waiting for her when she had to come back down. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that was super sad for you! I needed the opening to be sad, because it is the foundation of my story and such! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'm hoping the story is even better for you guys as it goes on. Have a great day!


	3. How Have You Been...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I'm a little late on uploading this chapter! I promised one a week! This one is definitely shorter than the first one, and that is how they will stay for awhile unless I just write a super chapter! I just needed to introduce everything in the first chapter, which is why it was so long! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It is kinda sad too.

  


“Grace! I just don’t understand why you don’t want to go clubbing with Ara and me later! You know it will be fun!” The, now, 17 year old Grace shook her head and kept walking towards her locker, not paying much attention to the babble coming from her friend’s mouth.

            “Because, Libby, unlike you and Arabella, I have things I have to do, li-“

            “Like study for some huge, important test that won’t even matter 20 years from now. Yeah, yeah all that blah!” Grace continued to make her way towards the wall of lockers, Libby following her tail. She was not giving in to the pitiful attempt of persuasion. “Look, you need a break! Its not like I’m asking you to stop studying for a whole week. Just one itty bitty night filled with dancing, fun, your best friends, and enough drinks to make you forget your name!” Grace rolled her eyes and began piling her pre-calculus and AP Language books into her, already cramped, locker.

            “Libby, you know how I feel about drinking… I don’t want liver failure when I am forty!” Libby let out a dramatic sigh and ran her fingers through her dark brown, almost black, hair.

            “Well, Arabella and I really want to hang out with you. What can we do that will persuade you to spend A LITTLE time with us?” Libby could be so dramatic, so it made sense that she pinched her fingers together the moment she said “little”. She made it seem as though Grace _never_ hung out with them, which was the farthest from true. She just did not like clubbing with them.

            “Anything that does not involve clubbing or drinking.” She slammed her locker door shut and gave Libby a challenging smirk. Of course, Libby was always prepared with an idea.

            “Well, we haven’t had a good, old fashioned sleepover since the summer. So, let’s do that! You and Ara can come over to my house tonight, we can stay up until obscene hours of the night, talk about boys, eat a bunch of junk, and have some clean, non-alcoholic, fun. Sound good to you?” There was really no saying no to Libby, so all Grace could do was sigh and nod yes. Plus, what would one night without studying really do to her? She would still have the rest of the weekend.

            Libby began jumping up and down without any warning, grinning like an idiot as she captured Grace in a tight hug.

            “Yes! Finally! Okay, be at my house at about… 7? I’ll have the pizza ordered by then, and all the cheesy chick-flicks lined up by the DVD player. Good?” Grace responded once more with a nod, and made an attempt to pry herself from Libby’s grasp.

            “Can’t… Breathe… Libby…”

            “Oh!” The spunky girl quickly let go and laughed softly as Grace gasped for air. She fished her phone out from her pocket and shot Arabella a quick text, before she started running down towards the other end of the hallway, towards the back parking lots of the school.

            “I’ll see you tonight Grace! Don’t forget! Be there at 7 o’ clock!” Then she darted straight through the glass doors, straight towards her red BMW. Grace couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief at her friend’s silly attitude, and then she proceeded to head towards the front doors of the school, straight towards her worn down, 2002 Volkswagen Beetle.

 

* * *

           

             “Dad! I’m home!” Grace slammed the door shut with a sigh and began to mutter under her breath. “Not that you care or anything…” She could hear him stumbling around in the kitchen, along with the giggling of girlfriend number 12… of this year. Grace didn’t even take the time to learn their names anymore. She only know them as numbers. They never stayed around long enough anyway.

            "Okay Gracelynn! I put you some dinner in the oven. Julia and I are going out tonight.” Of course, he was trying to pull the ‘Dad-of-the-Year’ card to impress the girl, but Grace saw right through it. That meant they were gonna go drinking, and then come back and do totally inappropriate actions in the room down the hall from Grace, which was why she was glad she was leaving tonight. He probably didn’t even put real food in the oven, maybe just an empty box that once held a frozen dinner. Anything to make himself look better.

            "Actually, I’m going to Libby’s house tonight! I won’t be home until tomorrow!” She darted into her bedroom, then threw her backpack on the floor and plopped onto the bed.

            “Whatever just lock the door when you leave!” And then the giggles of girlfriend 12 continued, and Grace sighed and spoke quietly to herself.

            “Wow Dad… longest conversation we have had in forever…” She looked towards her bookshelf and felt herself smile a little as she spotted the pictures frames that held her childhood. There was the picture of her and her mother in the purple frame, the picture of her with both her parents in the red (including where she took an expo marker and colored on her dad’s face), and the picture she held closest to her heart: the one of her and her childhood friend, sitting by the old swingset.

            She missed Luke, even ten years later. She thought about him constantly... And she always wondered if he ever thought of her too. They had been so close, and her dad ruined everything. After she moved to London, they wrote each other constantly, until she was 11, and he was 12. Then the letters became weekly, monthly, yearly, then finally, they stopped all together. And it wasn’t Grace’s fault…

 

* * *

 

            The last letter Luke ever wrote her made Grace so mad, pissed even. It was a long letter, three pages, which was rare for him…  


            When she got home from school that day, she was so excited to see the letter sitting on the table, waiting for her to tear it open. She had been having such an awful day at school, and Luke hadn’t written in so long. It was natural that she would feel giddy with joy to see his scraggly handwriting on the front of that envelope.

            When she opened it, she was so happy to see the familiar chicken scratch he called handwriting, but her attitude quickly changed when she began to read it. The letter went on to talk about how great of a time he was having in Year 9, all the friends he was making, how great his grades were. He even talked about some “cute” girl in his class (With long blonde hair and the prettiest green eyes he had ever seen). It made her so jealous, because her life had been the total opposite from that. So, she threw the letter in the trash, and cried on her bed for at least 30 minutes, until she finally worked up the confidence to write him a response letter.

            Grace spilled her whole heart into that letter, writing about how awful her life had been since she left Australia, and how awful her dad had become since he started drinking. She wrote about the kids bullying her at school for the way she looked, and how she was failing all her classes because her dad was always too drunk to even get her a tutor. Then, she wrote how much she missed him, and how much she missed his parents, and her mom. She followed up by asking how her mom was doing, because a few letters ago, Luke said she still lived next door, and he saw her all the time. Before she could write anymore, she could feel the tears ready to stream down her face, so, she knew it would be best for her to wrap up the letter. She wrote a little more about how much she missed him, then ended the letter by telling him she loved him…

            That might have been the reason he stopped writing, because maybe she scared him off by telling him she loved him. She didn’t care though, because she had to say it. She had been having these lingering feelings for so long, and she needed to express them somehow.

            She wrote him two letters after that, asking why he stopped writing, but he never responded, so Grace just gave up, without a fight, and thought maybe it was time to move on. It just didn’t feel worth it to try and associate with a person who probably didn’t even care.

            So, she used the time that she would have spent writing letters, and spent it to better herself. She started learning how to put make up on, style her hair, dress better, and she even took the time to start studying more so she could have higher grades without relying on her dad to get her a tutor.

            By the time Year 10 rolled around, she was at the top of her class grade wise, and people actually started to notice her, especially the guys. Yeah, she didn’t really want that attention, but it took her mind off her life at home, as well as a certain blonde haired, blue-eyed boy. She started going on dates more, hanging out with different types of people, and before she knew it, she was the social butterfly of the school. She even met her two best friends, Libby and Ara. Everyone loved Gracelynn October. And she couldn’t lie to herself; she loved the attention too.

  


* * *

 

            Grace was shaken from her thoughts as she heard the front door slam, signaling that her father and his wench had left for their date night. He probably didn’t even bother to yell a quick ‘Bye!’ It didn’t matter though. She had the whole house to herself until she left for Libby’s. Looking at her clock, she noticed that it was already 5. Had she been zoned out that long? Quickly, she jumped up from her bed, and headed straight for the shower. This was the only time she could sing: When her father wasn’t home. And she felt the most comfortable singing in her bathroom.

            She hurriedly stripped down to nothing, and turned her music player on that she kept in the bathroom, playing her favorite CD, one that she had burned herself (Illegally, seeing as her father never gave her money for anything). It was her CD filled with all her favorite musical songs, from Jersey Boys, to Wicked, and of course, the delicious Chicago. Her musicals always put her in a good mood. Musicals were all she knew, because she just couldn’t keep up with modern day music. It all just seemed so… Boring. It all sounded the same, not to mention everyone looked the same in the music industry. No one was different anymore, not like the musical world. Every song, every person, they were all unique.

            Grace pressed play on the dinosaur CD player then turned the water on, making sure it was the perfect, steaming hot temperature she loved so much. As she climbed in, the water coating her body, the first, most familiar song came on, and she started to hum softly to ‘I Feel Pretty’ from Westside Story. Then she began to belt out the words confidently. She had always wanted to play Maria in a production of Westside Story, but she knew she could never do justice to the part. ‘I Feel Pretty’ was a song about feeling pretty for being in love, and she had never known that feeling. Sure, she looked pretty, but she never really felt it… Not with her father around…

            As Maria hit her final notes, and the song ended, her favorite tune from Funny Girl started to play, and soon enough Grace started to sing again... Before she knew it, she had sung through about six songs, and she climbed out of the shower. She went over to the CD gulping monster and turned it off in the middle of a song. Then, she headed over to the sink. Wiping the fog off the mirror, she looked at herself and let out a deep sigh. She hated looking at herself in the mirror sometimes. It was one of those days…

            Soon enough, she was dressed in her favorite floral skater dress, the one she saved up months to get, and she was in her room packing up her overnight bag, including all her bathroom essentials, some light make-up, her pajamas, a pair of clothes for the next day, and her favorite fluffy blanket, the bare minimum. Once she had everything in the bag, she tossed it over her shoulder, and turned all the lights out in her room. Then, she headed out the front door, locking it behind her, anything to keep her dad from finding an excuse to yell at her. She climbed into her torn down Volkswagen, and started her car (it took a few tries of course). Then, Grace was on her way to Libby’s with 20 minutes to spare. Little did she know, she was heading towards what would be one of the most eventful nights of her life, ever since she left Australia…


	4. Would You Believe Me If I Told You...?

            “Okay, well I just can’t understand how you think Zac Efron is cuter than Leonardo DiCaprio! How crazy could you be, Libby?”

            “Well, in all honesty, I don’t believe that either of them are that attractive, but give me some Joseph Gordon-Levitt and I will be a happy, happy girl.” Ara rolled her eyes then turned towards Grace, who was resting on the bed, reading one of the books she had taken from Libby’s bookshelf. It was something about an all girls’ spy school, and she was actually enjoying it.

            “Grace! Do you think Leonardo DiCaprio is cuter than Zac Efron?” Grace flipped to the next page and rolled her eyes. She looked up from the black letters and shrugged, signaling to Ara how bored she was by the topic.

            “Arabelle, I have no clue who those guys are.” Ara shook her head in mock shame then went back to flipping through the Teen Beat magazine sitting in front of her.

            “Grace, you are so lame. You never look at cute boys with Libby and I. Your head is always stuck in some boring book! Come on, come sit on the floor with us, and freak out about One Direction’s new photo shoot pictures!” Libby looked up from the magazine she was holding, and nodded in agreement.

            “Ara does have a point Grace. You never join us to talk about boy bands!” Grace closed the book with a loud ‘thump’ and groaned in frustration.

            “You guys do realize that I never have any clue who you are talking about, right? I don’t keep up with social media, remember?” Libby and Ara exchanged a look, then looked back towards Grace.

            “Well, come down here, so Libby and I can educate you on the world of sexy boy bands!” Libby nodded excitedly.

            “We can even go get my parent’s laptop and make you a Twitter!” Grace shook her head and opened back up to the page she was on.

            “I have no way of getting on Twitter, because I have a flip phone, and no computer. Plus, I would only hear about the boy bands through you two. What is the fun in that, when I can reassure myself through my Broadway music, that I always have access to?” Ara groaned in frustration, then crawled onto the bed and sat on Grace’s back, causing her to gasp in shock.

            “Graaaaaaaace! Come on! Pleeeeeeease? Let us show you the hot boys!” She started to bounce up and down on Grace’s back, causing her to drop her book on the floor, and Grace tried to struggle her way out from under Ara.

            “Ara. Get. Off. Me. Now.”

            “No! Not until you get down on that floor and let us show you boy bands! Libby! Go get the laptop!” Libby darted from the room, while Ara continued to smother Grace under her. It wasn’t like Ara weighed a lot, but she weighed enough to add pressure to Grace’s back.

            “Fine! Get. Off!” She had to talk in between each bounce, because that was the only time she could even breathe, but she was soon given the sweet sensation of breathing correctly as Ara rolled to the floor.

            Ara looked so proud of herself as she hummed and started flipping in her magazine to the pictures from the One Direction photo shoot. Once she reached the pages, Libby entered the room, holding the laptop bag, grinning happily.

            “You are going to love this, Grace. Would Ara and I ever lead you wrong?” Grace rolled her eyes and crawled onto the floor.

            “Yes. Remember last year when you guys told me dying my hair red would be a great idea? And it ended up looking like a fire truck? I had to pay forty bucks just to get my hair back to its natural color. I still have nightmares about the red.” She shuddered dramatically to emphasize her fear of that red nightmare.

            “Oh come on, you have to forgive us for that. I mean, how were Libby and I supposed to know how red your hair was gonna get?”

            “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just hurry up and show me these “sexy boy bands” you two won’t shut up about.” Libby logged into her YouTube, and began pulling up videos of all the different bands.

            Grace did not realize the hours of time consuming, dedication she was getting herself into...

 

* * *

 

 

            “So this one is Louis, then Zayn, then Liam, then Niall, and the last one is Harry?” Libby and Ara both clapped in excitement, closing out the final tab they had open.

            “Well, with the help of Libby, and myself, you now know the difference between Union J, One Direction, and The Vamps. Annnd, you have been exposed to all their wonderful music! How do you feel?” Grace pondered her thoughts for a minute and shrugged.

            “I mean… I feel the same. Should I feel different?” Libby and Ara groaned in frustration and both dramatically collapsed to the floor.

            “Grace! Your lady parts are supposed to be going wild and tingling! Have Ara and I taught you nothing?!” Grace rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.

            “Libby, please don’t talk about my lady parts ‘tingling’. That is really weird.” Libby jumped up and paced the room, trying to think of a way to get Grace to understand the true joys of these boys. Ara joined her in pacing, tapping her chin in deep thought.

            “Are we missing something, Libby? Did we forget to show her a song or something?” Libby went through her mental checklist of all the videos she had ever seen of all the boys, and made sure she had shown them all to Grace, in the correct order.

            “Did we show her Zayn’s high notes?”

            “Yes, Ara…”

            “Did we show her Jaymi’s high notes?”

            “Yes…” Ara ruffled her hair in frustration and let out a dramatic sigh. Grace looked between the two of them confused, and sighed softly

            “You guys are way too consumed in these boys. Why do I need to be obbessed with them like you two?” They both turned towards her and gave her a questioning look. She just wasn’t getting it. Ara was the first to talk.

            “Look, Grace, we aren’t doing this to make you “obsessed” as you like to call us. We just want to have something in common. I mean, the three of us haven’t bonded together in so long, and it would be nice if we could all connect over something.”

            “Yeah, Grace. Musicals aren’t bad, but Ara and I just know nothing about them, and you never want to teach us about them. So, we thought we would teach you about the bands we like, in hopes that maybe you would like them too…. Then we would all have something to talk about together!” Grace was quiet for a moment, thinking on what they had said. Had she really been separating herself from her friends that much? That wasn’t fair to them at all… They were her closest friends, after all. The least she could do was share some common interest with them.

            “Okay, now I see what you guys are trying to do…” She ran her fingers through her hair once more, then gave them a playful grin. “If that’s the case, then I am definitely a Niall girl.” Libby and Ara both squealed in joy and engulfed Grace in a group hug.

            When the three separated, Ara’s face practically glowed with realization and joy.

            “I know what we are forgetting! We didn’t show her 5SOS!” Libby gasped and darted back over to the laptop, typing in ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ as quickly as her fingers would allow her to. Grace gave them both a confused look.

            “Another boy band? And their name is Five sauce? What kind of name is that? Do they like ketchup and barbeque sauce or something?” Ara shook her head and sat down next Libby.

            “No, 5SOS. It is spelled 5 s-o-s. It is short for 5 Seconds of Summer. And they aren’t a boy band. They are actually pretty different from the other bands we showed you.” Libby and Ara contemplated which video they were going to show, and decided on the Try Hard music video. As it loaded, Libby turned to Grace and grinned.

            “I’m surprised you aren’t familiar with them. They come from you home country, Australia.” Grace’s interest was peaked at the mention of Australia, and she sat down in between her two friends. She hadn’t even spoken of Australia in years, so just knowing that there was a decent group there lightened up her day.

            The video finished loading, and Libby and Ara couldn’t help but smile with excitement.

            “You are going to love them. They are so cool.” Of course, Grace was not prepared when the video started playing.

            Libby paused in between each guy, stating that the Asian looking one was named Calum Hood, the one with the colorful hair was Michael Clifford, the one with the sweet smile was Ashton Irwin, and the blonde haired, blue-eyed lead singer was…

            “Luke… Hemmings…” Libby and Ara both looked at her in shock. They both sat in silence for a second, trying to figure out what just happened, and why Grace sounded so devastated when she said his name. Ara was the first to speak up.

            “How in the world did you know that was Luke Hemmings? Have you been secretly listening to these bands without telling us?” Libby and Ara both exchanged a soft laugh, but they stopped when they realized that Grace’s eyes were still locked on the screen.

            Grace hadn’t even realized she had muttered his name, and that she still had her eyes locked on his blue ones. She hadn’t said his name out loud in years… Hell, she hadn’t seen his face in years! And now here he was, on the computer screen in a popular band…

            Ara and Libby became worried after Grace stayed silent for a few minutes, so Libby snapped in her face to catch her attention.

            “Yo! Earth to Grace! Where did you go?” Grace quickly snapped back to reality and looked between Libby and Ara. They looked so worried.

            “Grace, are you okay? You seem… Shocked?” Libby nodded, in agreement. Grace sighed and nodded.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little startled.” Her two friends nodded slowly, then Libby focused back on the screen.

            “Now, tell us how you know Luke Hemmings.” Grace’s eyes widened, and she took a deep breath.

            “I can’t tell you. You guys will think I am crazy…” Libby grabbed Grace’s right hand, while Ara grabbed the other.

            “Grace, you can trust us. Ara and I will believe you. Its okay if you have been watching these videos, and you feel embarrassed.” Grace shook her head.

            “That isn’t it…” Libby and Ara gave her a look of confusion once more.

            “Then what is it?” Grace took a deep, deep breath, looked down at her lap, then finally told them.

            “Luke Hemmings… Was my childhood best friend…” When she looked back up, both Libby and Ara’s jaws were dropped, and their eyes were wide with shock… This was going to be an eventful night… And it was only 12:30 in the morning…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really proud of myself! Because I'm keeping up with my once a week updates! I'm hoping to keep all my updates to Monday's, but sometimes it might be other days in the week. I will update at least once a week though, that's for sure! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the next one is going to be a loooot longer.


	5. Let Me Tell You The Real Story...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning: Mentions of physical and mental abuse* So like, this one basically recaps the first chapter in a quicker version, but it gives a little more depth into Grace's abuse and her life since she has started living with her dad. I wanted to really create this moment between the three best friends.

_“Luke Hemmings… Was my childhood best friend…” When she looked back up, both Libby and Ara’s jaws were dropped, and their eyes were wide with shock… This was going to be an eventful night… And it was only 12:30 in the morning…_

* * *

 

            “Wait a second… So you… were best friends with Luke Hemmings?” Ara couldn’t believe it, and neither could Libby. Well, they did believe Grace, but they were just in shock that she knew _the_ Luke Hemmings.

            Grace nodded in response to Ara’s question, and let out a soft sigh. Did they really believe her, or did they think she was a total nut. The latter, was not the answer.

            “Oh… My… GOSH! Grace! Why have you never told us this?! Have you been keeping this a secret from Ara and I on purpose?!” Grace shrugged her shoulders casually, and turned from her two friends, who were still freaking out.

            “I never thought to bring it up… Hell, I didn’t even know he was famous…”

            “See! This is why you should be interested in the things we say! If you had, we would have found out about your friendship with Luke a loooong time ago!” Grace roller her eyes at Libby’s comment, then stood up from the floor, stretching and faking a yawn. She didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet at least. Sure, she thought of Luke every once and a while. It was a constant thing, but to actually talk about him, and how they were tragically torn apart, that was a totally different story… Talking about Luke meant she had to talk about her past, and what her father is really like…

            “Well, it is late, so we should probably start heading to sleep. Goodnight.” As Grace was about to crawl into Libby’s King size bed, she was pulled back down to the floor by two pairs of hands.

            “Spill.” The two spoke in sync, and all Grace could do was sigh, and nod her head.

            “Okay, I will tell you guys about Luke, but you have to promise me this does not leave this room.” Libby and Ara both nodded rapidly, and Grace had their full attention. She took a deep breath, and started telling the tale of little Grace and Luke, and that old swingset in her backyard that the two met at every Saturday…

 

* * *

 

            Grace told them everything, how they lived next door, and how their parents were best friends. She told them all of her and Luke’s stories, like the one where they snuck into his mom’s bra drawer, and the one where the two of them stayed out until 2 in the morning trying to count all the stars (they kept losing count in the 300s, just because Grace couldn’t count higher than 100, so she had to depend on Luke). She even told them about the time she spilled grape juice all over his clothes, while Grace’s mother was watching them, and because his parents weren’t home, he had to wear some of her clothes that were too big for her. She told them everything she could remember from her childhood with Luke. They all laughed together at the funny stories, and they were having such a great time. Libby and Ara were actually really glad Grace was opening up about her past, not because she was talking about Luke, but because it was nice to see how happy she got talking about this. She never told them about her life at home, or life when she lived in Australia. This was such a nice change.

It was only temporarily nice though… Now, she had to tell them the sad part. They were finally gonna learn why she never talked about her past.

            “Okay, here comes the tough part… Promise you guys won’t cry, okay? This next story is kind of a doozy.” Her expression had changed drastically, and Libby and Ara suddenly became worried. They scooted closer to her, subconsciously, because they could already tell she was going to need some kind of comforting. Grace showing emotions like this was rare, so Libby and Ara always took every chance they got to comfort her when she did. They hated how much Grace closed up, but they couldn’t do much to persuade her to change that. Maybe this was a moment she needed…

            “Luke and I had such a great friendship, always meeting at the swingset, living our lives without believing anything was wrong, but that was the problem… Kids never know what goes on behind closed doors, so of course, I never knew that my parent’s marriage was falling apart… And I wasn’t prepared for my parent’s divorce…” Grace took a moment to recollect her thoughts, and she tried not to cry as the memories played out in her head. Libby started to rub Grace’s back soothingly, trying to calm her friend down… She could already see the tears ready to form in her eyes…

            “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.” Grace shook her head then looked back up at Ara and Libby. She had to finally tell someone, or it would eat her alive…

            “I want to talk about… I don’t talk to you guys enough… And I guess now would be a good time to start.” This gave Ara and Libby a bittersweet feeling. It was bitter, because they knew their friend had been hurting, but they did nothing about, and it was sweet, because she was finally opening up to them.

            “Luke and I were out in the backyard one day, and my dad came out the backdoor, screaming and telling me to come in… When I got into the house, my mother was crying, on her hands and knees, begging for something. I was too little to understand that she was begging to keep me. My dad had finally had it with my mother, or something like that. Saying she didn’t treat him properly and he couldn’t handle it anymore. That was a lie though. He was leaving my mom for some slut here in London that he had met on a “business trip”. So, my dad came upstairs, and found me hiding under my bed. He pulled me out, and started to explain to me that we were leaving for London in the morning… I had to pack all my stuff up that night, and my mom told me to go next door and tell Luke goodbye… She was crying so much… I went next door, and Luke and I talked for a while… Hekissedme… An-“ Libby’s eyes widened and she immediately interrupted Grace

            “Hold on! He _kissed_ you!? Oh my gosh that is so exciting!” Grace rolled her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly.

            “Libby, we were children, it does not count. Now, moving on… I didn’t tell him that night that I was moving, because I just felt bad. I didn’t want to tell my _best friend_ that I was leaving and I might never see him again… So, I didn’t tell him that night, I just told him to meet me at the airport, and that we would only be gone for a few days. When he got to the airport, I had to finally tell him… His parents already knew, because my mom called them the night before… So, Liz knew I hadn’t told him yet…” Ara gasped softly.

            “You knew Liz! Is his mom as nice as people say she is?” Grace nodded gently.

            “She is the sweetest. She was like a second mom to me… And she looked so heartbroken while she was watching me get on the plane. They all did, but back to the story. Luke handed me this cute little gift bag, and told me his mom made him get it. He was like ‘I don’t know why my mom made me get you a gift for your vacation’ or something like that, and I knew I had to finally tell him. I took Luke over to one of those uncomfortable airport chairs, and sat him down. He started crying when I told him, we both did… And we made a promise we would never forget each other, and that we would write everyday… And as the plane started down the runway, I waved one last time to the Hemmings, and I never saw them again…” It was difficult for Grace to tell them this story, but it was also a relief. Ara and Libby both stayed close, and just hugged her. She wanted to cry, but she just couldn’t, not over this. So, she calmed herself down, relaxed into the two, tight hugs she was receiving, then let out a small sigh. Ara and Libby both looked at her, and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

            “So, did you two actually write everyday?” Grace nodded solemnly. Libby always tried to find the positive in stories, so she held hope to the idea of them staying connected.

            “For awhile, but he started writing me less, and less… Then he stopped responding to my letters all together.”

            “Do you know why?” Yes. That was what Grace wanted to say to Ara. He stopped writing because he probably couldn’t handle her last depressing letter. But how was she supposed to tell her friends about her father being abusive, and neglecting her for his loose, inconsistent girlfriends? She knew she would have to tell them eventually, so now would be the best time…

            “Yeah, he stopped writing… because I told him about my father…” Ara and Libby exchanged a concerned look, and Libby spoke up first.

            “What about your father?” Grace exhaled sharply, and could feel her anger bubbling over.

            “My dad started drinking… heavily. And I was so young… It was a year after we had moved here, and he started partying more. It was because of all the girls he was dating… He liked them young, that’s for sure… And the young ones love to party. My dad had to drink with them all the time, just so he could keep up. Then, he started getting dependent on it. He would come home from a bad day at work, and he knew drinking would make him forget. So, that was what he did. And when he got drunk enough, he would start yelling at me, blaming me for his problems… Everything was my fault when he was drunk… I didn’t mind the yelling, because it didn’t really bother me that much… I could always ignore it, because I knew it wasn’t my fault. What started to bother me, was when he started getting violent…” Libby got pissed, but pissed was an understatement.

            “He put his hands on you?!” She stood up, and paced the room, trying to calm herself. “Nobody puts their hands on my Grace! I’m gonna go kick him straight in the n-“

            “Libby! Sit your ass down and shut up. You know you aren’t gonna do anything. Now calm down and let Grace finish her story.” Libby looked at Grace, and noticed how upset Grace already was, and it was obvious that her freaking out wasn’t making it any better. So, she sat back down next to Grace, and muttered a soft ‘sorry’. This was the signal for Grace to keep going. She took another small breath, and continued…

            “My dad only hit me a few times, but once is still too much, so I’m not making an excuse for him… It was terrifying, being so young, and practically having your own father bully you, making you feel like the shittiest person alive. It was practically a hobby to him… But like I said, he only hit me a few times, because I started shutting down, and I stopped feeling the pain. When he realized that the physical blows weren’t working, he started taking swings at my mental health…” Ara and Libby were on the verge of crying. How could they have not noticed that their friend was going through so much? She was a strong one that was for sure, and great at hiding her pain.

            “So, he started mentally abusing you?” Grace nodded towards Ara.

            “He started making all these false promises that I was gonna see my mom, to get me all excited, then tell me that I was never going to see her again. He would tell me how much she actually hated me, and was glad I was gone. He even went as far as faking a letter from her, and making it seem like she was thanking him for taking me away. The only reason I found out the letter was fake, was because I found all the real letters she had written to me, that he had kept hidden. The handwriting didn’t match up… He called me so many names: ugly, stupid, worthless, waste of space, problem child. He wanted me to feel so… So awful. He reached that goal for quite awhile, and he was so pleased with himself. He knew the exact words to make me cry, tear me down. And he used them whenever he pleased. It used to bother me so much when I was younger…” She took a moment to pause, and calm her shaky voice.

            “I hope I’m not chasing you guys away with my sob story… That was one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell you…” Libby smacked her on the head, causing Grace to let out a sharp ‘ow!’

            “You could _never_ chase us away! We are your best friends, and we agreed to always be there for each other.” Grace felt something churn in her stomach. It was a bittersweet feeling, only because she and Luke were best friends too, and they were separated. She didn’t feel that was the case with Ara and Libby though. They would probably race to the ends of the Earth for Grace, and she had been so unfair to them, keeping her life a secret. Especially with how much they cared for her.

            “His words stopped hurting me after awhile… Because I was able to reassure myself, which was why I had my total attitude change in Year 8. I mean, he still treats me like trash, but I’ve grown independent, and I can do things for myself… It doesn’t bother me anymore. Which is one of the reasons I just didn’t feel the need to talk about it to you guys…”

            “But Grace, you can’t keep things like this hidden from us, especially if it has gotten this severe. We have to be able to be there for you, and we can’t do that if you don’t tell us.” Grace nodded softly, because Ara’s statement was true. She tilted her head down to the floor. Libby and Ara weren’t gonna let her sulk though. They both scooted so they were sitting in front of her, and Libby tilted Grace’s head back up so she was looking her in the eyes, and squished her cheeks in the process.

            “We aren’t gonna have a sad night, you hear me? I’m so glad you told us about your dad, and you can come over whenever you need to, okay? You don’t have to sit at home and let him treat you badly.” Grace nodded and felt as though a million pounds had been lifted off her shoulders. She hadn’t felt this much relief in so long. Libby smiled at her, and Ara followed suit.

            “Well, now we have a mission.” Libby and Grace looked over at Ara confused, as if she had been speaking a different language.

            “Ara, what the hell are you spewing?” She gave the two a mischievous grin, and started typing vigorously on the laptop, pulling up the One Direction website. Libby rolled her eyes and crawled over as if she was going to close the computer, then stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened as she saw the announcement on the front page (one she had already known of but had completely forgotten about), and she looked over at Ara like she was a genius. Then, she started typing again, pulling up another website, and clicking rapidly.

            “You guys, what the hell is going on?” Grace was left in the dark as her two friends started plotting behind her back. Ara giggled, then winked at Grace.

            “Shh. Let us do our work.” This aggravated Grace, and she started to crawl over to the computer. Of course, Libby and Ara weren’t having that, so they squeezed together tighter so she couldn’t see the screen. Libby continued to type, then made one final click with a smug look.

            “Hey Grace, how would you feel about going to a One Direction concert?” Grace gave her a skeptical look, curious as to how this related to her situation.

            “I mean, I don’t have the money to go to a concert right now… Hell, I’m still trying to save up enough money to get a ticket to see my mom again. “ Libby shook her head and laughed.

            “I’ve got that cover Grace, don’t even worry.”

            “Okay, but what does this concert have to do with anything? I only just started listening to the band today.” Libby and Ara exchanged another mischievous look.

            “Well, we are taking you to see Luke, silly!” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. Then, she calmed down a little and let out a sigh of relief.

            “Wow, you guys were really pulling my leg. Was this a way to test if I had been listening to you? Luke isn’t in One Direction, he is in 5 Seconds of Summer.”

            “Yeah, but guess who is opening for them. I’ll give you a hint, your childhood best friend is in the band.” Grace rolled her eyes. There was no way she was going to believe their little trick. They slid the computer towards her when they realized she wasn’t going to believe them, and Grace felt like she could pass out when she saw the screen. Not only were they touring with One Direction, but the screen Libby and Ara showed Grace contained a receipt for three, front row tickets for their show at the O2 Arena, along with three meet and greet packages with 5SOS.

            “No. No no nonono! This is not happening! I refuse to believe this is real! You guys just stole this from someone else, didn’t you? This picture isn’t real.”  
            “Grace, look at the name on the top of the receipt…” She looked at the top, and sure enough Elizabeth Preston was in black text at the top. She really felt like fainting then.

            “Okay, and why the hell did you even do this?” Libby shook her head in disbelief.

            “Because, we want you to be reunited with you childhood friend. They way you two were separated was unfair, and you two deserve to see each other again after all these years.”

            “But, it has been so long, what if he doesn’t remember me?”

            “Grace, how could he forget someone like you? I mean, surely he will remember you.” Grace tried to calm her breathing, because she couldn’t believe this was happening. She was going to see Luke again, after all this time. She was happy, but terrified all at the same time. Then, something crossed Grace’s mind.

            “Wait, if One Direction is as popular as you say they are, how did you get those tickets?” Libby grinned and rolled her eyes.

            “I have my connections. Don’t worry about it. All you need to worry about is the outfit you are going to be wearing at this concert six months from now.” That was the last thing Grace would be thinking about. Her mind was more flooded with what she would say, and if he would even remember her…


	6. AU: AFTER TWO LONG YEARS

Hello Everyone!

Wonderstruck Mermaid here with a huge important update on this little thing I call my story!

So, I went on for a hiatus for a while, as you guys saw, and I stopped writing this story for two years. Everything in my life just got so busy, and I slowly lost time and motivation to write. But, today I was re-reading through all the things I had written on my google drive, and I came across this old story. And as I was reading the chapter I was last working on, I realized how much I missed working on this story, and I was suddenly given the inspiration to write it again. So, I am going to try and finish up Chapter 5 in the most similar fashion to my old writing as possible, and I am going to hopefully have it posted tomorrow! And theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, I am going to start working on Chapter 6 with a whole new writing style! Hopefully it won't be too noticeable, but I have had so many new real world experiences, and Ihave just overall changed as a person in the pas two years, I doubt it is gonna stay the same. Soooooooooooooo, without further ado, I am happy to announce the offical revival of this story! Happy reading you guys! See you in about 24 hours!

-Wonderstruck Mermaid


	7. World Tour, Here We Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter is a little bit awkward, everyone. It has been quite a while since I have even looked at this story, so I had to go back and really try to remeber everything I wrote. I was also halfway through this chapter when I decided to quit writing, so trying to match my old writing style was quite the challenge for me. I hope you all enjoy it regardless, as I work on the next chapter!

“This is so cool! Going on tour with one of the biggest boy bands since The Beetles! Who knew we would ever get this far? I’m so excited, I could eat ten whole pizzas!” Michael was practically bouncing off of the walls with excitement, and he had only been at Ashton’s house for a minute. The boys had been planning for their tour for months, writing up set lists, writing new songs, adding them to the set list, then starting all over again on a new sheet of paper to make a new set list, only to write a new song that might be a possibility on the set list. It was all, so... ‘Extremely exciting!’ as Michael would put it. They had always dreamed of going on tour, but never on a tour this huge. Even though it was still six months away, they were still buzzing with joy. 

“Michael, you can eat pizza later. You need to chill out, sit down, and come help us with this set list. This is the fifth one we have done, now come on!” Calum had been stressing over this set list all week. It needed to be perfect. They were going on a  **_World Tour_ ** with  **_the_ ** One Direction. This was huge! Michael pouted at Calum, then walked over to the sofa in Ashton’s garage, squeezing in between Calum and Ashton. He looked around the garage, feeling as though something was missing. Or was it a someone? Then it hit him.

“Hey, where is Luke?” He searched the room for his tall, lanky blonde friend, but was greeted with nothing. Luke was always at the band meetings, so it was weird not seeing him there.

“I’m over here.” Michael looked over towards a pile of blankets on top of a beanbag chair, where the muffled voice was coming from, and giggled softly. 

“Luke, what the hell are you doing under all those blankets?” Luke peaked his head out from the top, and Michael gasped when he saw the dark, grey bags under his eyes. He hadn’t actually seen Luke for the past few days. Ashton immediately noticed Michael’s confused look, and decided to intervene.

“Luke hasn’t been sleeping much the past few days. And he won’t tell us why.” The lanky blonde grumbled in protest

“I told you, it’s because I’m stressing about the tour.” Calum shook his head.

“You can’t lie to us that easily, Lucas. It isn’t just that. We know you. The tour might be a small part of it, but not all of it. There is another reason for those hefty bags under your eyes. We aren’t gonna force you to tell us, but if it is bothering you so badly, maybe you should say something about it.” Luke groaned in frustration, then slithered back into his cocoon of blankets. Calum rolled his eyes, then focused his attention back on the blank sheet of paper. 

“If you are going to hide under those blankets, could you at least help us with something on this set list? I can’t think of a good song to start with.” Luke was quiet for a moment, and then poked his head out.

“Start with Out of My Limit. End with Try Hard as the encore song. You pick everything that goes in between.” He ducked back into the blankets, and in a matter of moments, Luke’s soft snoring could be heard under the multiple layers of blankets. Calum sighed, both from frustration at Luke’s short statement, but also in relief because the blonde boy was finally getting a little sleep. He thought for a moment, wrote down the songs, and started putting the set list together one more time. Soon enough, they had the perfect set list, and everything was going smoothly… Well, except for their sleepy lead singer.

 

Yeah, Luke was lying about why he was losing sleep, but he really didn’t want to drop his personal problems on the band like that.  He had been having these dreams lately, about his childhood best friend, Grace October. They were more like nightmares though. He thought it might be because the letter she wrote him a few years ago, spilling her heart out, telling him about the abuse. He didn’t want to believe that her father would actually do that to her, but he also wouldn’t put it past him, seeing as he heartlessly ripped the two best friends apart…

It had been so stressful lately. He had been missing her so much these past couple of weeks, and she was always on his mind, especially with the tour coming up. He wondered everyday why she stopped writing to him. After he received that final heartbreaking letter from her, he spilled his heart to her too, admitting to her that his last letter was a lie, and his school year had been awful. Kids were making fun of him constantly, and that girl had told her about actually rejected him. The girl didn’t mean anything to him anyway, because he had always loved Grace, which is what he told her. Sure, they were young, and people always say that kids don’t know what love is, but Luke knew he loved her. He knew he had deep feelings for. She was his best friend, so he always felt the closest to her, and no one could ever replace her spot in his heart. 

She never wrote back. And it has haunted Luke to this day. He has tried so many times to find her, searching her up on Facebook, searching her name on the Internet. Nothing. It was like she just disappeared from the face of the Earth. That scared him the most. It scared him so much, that he actually started looking up news reports everyday in London about deaths caused by abuse, crossing his fingers that Grace’s name wouldn’t pop up. It never did, of course. 

He felt like maybe she stopped writing letters because she was tired of waiting so long for him to reply. It wasn’t really his fault though… Okay, it was a little bit. He just didn’t know what to write her half the time. He was always balling up his letters, and throwing them in the trash, because he would always want to spill his heart out to her, but he was afraid she wouldn’t accept his feelings. So, he thought maybe if he added a little glamour to his life, she would be impressed. And he only added the part about the girl to make her a little jealous. He had read somewhere that jealousy was a great relationship starter. He burned that book after he got her response letter. Last time he would ever get dating advice from a stupid book. 

Luke took the letter to his mom immediately, and she had been absolutely pissed. She wanted to fly to London immediately and take Grace away from all the misery and pain, but it wasn’t her place to do so. Plus, the Australian authorities couldn’t do a damn thing about an abuse in London. And she couldn’t go to Grace’s mom, because she packed up and left her house without a word. No one had heard from Alisyn in a year. Probably couldn’t handle living in the house where her whole life fell apart. All Liz could do was hope that maybe Alex would come to his senses and realize that he was hurting his baby girl, and ruining her life. Luke was a total mess when he realized there was nothing his mom could do. He wanted her to take him out to London immediately so he could give Alex a piece of his mind, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. So, he waited, and waited, for a letter that never came. 

Luke never gave his hunt up for Grace; he was always searching her name on Facebook, MySpace, and any type of social media he could think of. He even checked to see if maybe she had started a YouTube channel, just as he did, but instead, to post Musical Theatre covers. She always loved singing along to the popular Broadway songs. Of course, every time, he was always greeted with a big pile of nothing. 

When he started the band, he thought maybe he could use it as an escape whenever he started thinking about Grace, but of course, it didn’t help. Even when they started getting famous, he wasn’t able to divert his thoughts from his old best friend. And then the nightmares started. They didn’t start until after they were approached by One Direction’s management, and asked to go on tour with the boys. He had been so excited, that he wanted to scream with joy. Then, that night, he was stirred from his sleep with a thin layer of sweat covering his body, and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. He thought that it was possibly a one-night thing, but he was terribly wrong.

It was always the same sequence during the dreams: she was taken away on the plane to London; he would fly out to see her a few months later, and everything would be fine. The two best friends were finally reunited. Then, it would take a turn for the worse, and her dad would walk into the room, obviously drunk, pull her to the other side of the room, and start to hit her. Luke would try to jump up and save her every time, but he would be stopped by what her assumed was a glass wall. He would beat his fist against it until they were bleeding, screaming at him to stop, but soon enough, he would realize the glass wasn’t breaking. He would just have to watch her being beaten by her father, and she would scream for him to help her. She would scream about how he broke his promise to always protect her. She would scream it over and over again, and all he could do was cry. Then, he would wake up, tears dampening his cheeks.

He couldn’t escape them no matter how hard he tried, and he tried pretty often. He would try distracting himself before bed, watching a stupid TV show, or reading a cheesy romance book, hoping that maybe it would change his dreams. It didn’t work, and he found himself waking up in the middle of the night crying. The nightmare was taking a toll on him, so he tried something else. He decided he just wouldn’t sleep at all, which was extremely illogical at the time, but Luke didn’t care. He was willing to do anything to stop having the nightmares. 

He only lasted three days before he totally passed out, and when he woke up shaking and sobbing, he realized that it didn’t work. Nothing was helping, and it frustrated him. He was at the point where he was about to go see a therapist, because he thought he was going crazy. Of course, seeing a therapist probably wouldn’t help him much. He was just going to have to figure it all out himself. He had been doing so well hiding it from the boys, but then the bags started to form under his eyes, and he knew he would be caught.

  
  


Calum noticed the blankets on the beanbag chair tossing and wrinkling violently, and he thought maybe it was just Luke trying to get comfortable, that is, until he heard Luke make the most pitiful sound ever: a soft cry for help. Ashton and Michael had run off to the middle of the driveway to listen to some stupid song. So, they were too far to hear Luke, but Calum wasn’t. He subtly headed over to where the blonde was sleeping. He pulled the blankets back and saw the tears streaming down his best friend’s face. He squatted down in front to him and started to gently shake his shoulder.

“Hey, buddy, Luke? Wake up. Come on man…” Luke’s eyes shot open and he was greeted with a concerned Calum. He knew he was in deep now, especially since Calum had seen him crying in his sleep. He couldn’t lie to his best friend forever though. 

Luke sat up on the beanbag chair and rested his face in his hands, taking a deep shaky breath.

“I really didn’t want to drop my personal problems on the ban-” Calum didn’t hesitate to smack Luke in the back of his head, not even letting him finish his sentence, letting him know how stupid he sounded by saying that.

“I’m not the band. I am your best friend. Dude, you can tell me anything. Especially if there is something that’s making you cry like a freaking sissy in your sleep.” Luke let out a soft laugh at his friend’s sissy comment, and Calum couldn’t have been happier. He hadn’t actually seen Luke smile in a few days, almost weeks. He shoed Luke over in the beanbag chair and sat next to him, squishing up against him. Then he lazily put his arm around Luke’s shoulder. It was moments like this that made Luke kind of grateful to have such great friends. He didn’t even realize how much he had been worrying them until this moment. If Calum had been this worried, then he couldn’t even begin to imagine how worried Michael and Ashton were.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise you won’t tell Mike and Ash. I don’t need them to mother me too.” 

“Are you trying to say that I am mothering you right now?”

“Exactly. Glad you caught on.” Calum and Luke exchanged one more laugh, before Calum become serious, something that he did not do often. So, Luke realized it was time to tell someone. He took a deep breath, and basically told Calum… Everything. From when he first met Grace, to when her dad took her away, to the final letter she ever wrote him. When he finished, Calum looked shocked. How could someone do something like that? He could easily see the hurt in his best friend’s eyes; the tears ready to spill over, so he wrapped his arm around him a little tighter. 

“Dude… That’s… That’s rough… I’m sorry you have been dealing with this the past few weeks. I wish you had said something earlier.” Luke shook his head.

“I couldn’t. I didn’t really know how to approach that... ‘Hey you guys! I’m having nightmares about my old childhood friend being beaten by her father.’ Would I not sound a little crazy?” Calum rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration.

“Okay,  _ diva _ . That isn’t the only way you could have worded that.” Luke sighed and rested his face in his hands, trying to keep from crying again.

“I don’t know what to do Calum… It’s like… I just can’t stop thinking about her and wondering if all this terrible stuff has happened to her.  I keep thinking the worst has happened to her. Calum, what if she is… what if she is dead? What if her dad killed her? Or what if everything just got so hard and she killed herself? All because I wasn’t there for her?” Luke started to shake and his eyes started to glaze over as tears threatened to spill. Calum couldn’t help but feel hurt for his best friend, especially with him in a state like this, so he knew he needed to say something to calm him down.

“Woah dude, you gotta take a second and breathe for me, okay? I mean, she probably isn’t dead. You said it yourself, you have been googling her ever since she stopped writing. If anything had happened to her, I am almost positive some news outlet would have reported it.”  
“Yeah, but I can’t even find her on Facebook or any kind of social media. It’s like she doesn’t even exist. And I can’t track her down by her address, because her dad had a P.O. Box set up for their mail so her mother couldn’t find her. I mean, he did everything in his power so none of us could find her…” Calum thought for a moment, running all sorts of possible scenarios through his head, then it all started to make sense.

“What if her dad kept her off social media on purpose to keep you from finding out where she was? I bet he didn’t see that as a problem when you guys were younger, because I am sure that thought never crossed either one of your minds. When it comes to social media though, not only would you be able to find her, but her mother could find her too. He doesn’t want that, right?” Luke’s eyes widened with shock. How did he never think of that? It was so obvious. Her dad wanted her isolated from everyone who loved her. Which is probably why he even went out of his way to have a separate location for their mail.

“Calum! You are a freaking genius!” Calum grinned and scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Buddy, I’m no genius, that’s kind of a common scenario for situations like yours. But, I’ll take the compliment regardless.” Luke laughed quietly, then  punched Calum in the arm, but then he felt another wave of sadness hit him.

“Well, that still doesn’t change that there is no possible way for me to find her or see her. This new revelation kinda makes me feel even worse…” It was true, though. If his dad really went to these extremes to keep anyone from finding her, there was no way he could find her now. 

“Well, there is one way we could find her…” Luke jumped up from the beanbag chair and looked Calum dead in the eyes. 

“Calum Thomas Hood don’t you get my hopes up. You better not say something stupid like a blimp or something over London.” Calum shook his head and stood up, crossing his arms and pacing the room as he explained his plan to Luke.

“You know how people will start hashtags and stuff to help them find people they met by chance encounter? Like missed connections and stuff!” Luke nodded his head, as if he understood what Calum was getting too, even though he didn’t.

“Yeah…”  
“Well, in case you forgot, we are about to go on tour with THE One Direction. Have you seen how many new followers we have gotten since the announcement?”  
“Well, yeah, but I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”

“Luke, you are so dense. I’m trying to say, what if, while we are touring in Europe, we use a hashtag to help you find Grace? We could have our fans help us search for her!” Luke shook his head.

“That would never work.”  
“And why not?” Calum stopped his pacing and looked at his defeated friend as he slumped on to the couch.

“Because, I don’t have any recent pictures of her, so how would the fans find her? We would end up having a bunch of fans named Grace trying to act like they are her just so they could get close to me. That’s how it always happens. Have you not seen Another Cinderella Story?” Calum sighed in defeat, and sat down next to Luke, propping his elbows on his knees.  
“Okay, you have a good point there… I’m sorry, buddy, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up… I just hate seeing you down like this, and I really wanted to help.”

“It okay, Calum. You tried to help and that’s all that matters. All I can do is keep searching in hopes that maybe I’ll find her one day.” Calum lightly punched his best friend’s arm, then stood up and arched his back as though he was stretching.

“Who knows, maybe she will come find you?” Luke gave a weak smile, and nodded at Calum.

“Maybe…” Calum started to head towards the door that lead to the inside of Ashton’s, then turned back towards Luke.

“I’m heading to the kitchen. You want anything?” His blonde haired friend shook his head, and pulled his cell phone to fiddle with one of the countless games he had downloaded. 

“I’m good, thanks.”  
“Your loss.” And with that, Luke was, once again, left alone with his thoughts. He thought about how amazing it would be if Grace showed up to see him perform. He had always wanted to be a rockstar, and she knew that. She would always sit in his room while he fake performed for her, and she always told him she would be his biggest fan until the very end. Supporting him at every concert and show he ever did. Wouldn’t she have found him by now if that statement was true? 


End file.
